Man allegedly shot wife during dispute

December 27, 2006

From staff reports


A Ware Shoals man was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly shot his wife during a domestic dispute in their home, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Uniformed deputies arrested Danny Ray Hanley, 53, of 75 Smith St. Ext., Ware Shoals, after they responded to the residence and found his wife, Kemmy Hanley, with a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Kemmy was taken to Self Regional Hospital, where she was airlifted to a Greenville hospital for possible surgery. At presstime, she was in stable condition and medical authorities described her injury as “non-life threatening,” the sheriff’s office reported.
According to the report, GCSO investigators recovered a .38-caliber revolver at the home and interviewed Danny Ray and several witnesses. Danny Ray reportedly confessed to the shooting and was charged with assault and battery with intent to kill.
Witnesses detained Danny Ray until GCSO’s arrival, and additional charges against him might be forthcoming stemming from his efforts to escape, Chief Deputy Mike Frederick said in a news release.
Danny Ray suffered minor injuries during that detention, according to the report. He was taken to Self Regional Hospital, where he was examined and treated. Once discharged, he will be taken to the Greenwood County Detention Center pending a bond hearing today, Frederick said.
Frederick said that although deputies responded to more than 60 domestic disputes over the extended holiday weekend, this incident represented the only life-threatening assault thus far.
“Unfortunately, the weekend’s not over yet,” he added.
Domestic dispute calls for service generally increase during holiday weekends due to a combination of alcohol use and family tensions, exacerbated by the stress of the season and gatherings, he said.

Saddam execution ‘good for humanity’

December 27, 2006

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

One thing is clear. Barring a bizarre turn of events, Saddam Hussein will die by hanging after being convicted of murder and other assorted charges and having his final appeal denied Tuesday by the Iraqi High Tribunal’s appellate chamber.
In accordance with Iraqi law, the sentence must be carried out within 30 days, giving the former dictator a much shorter lease on life than some might have thought.
But, after months of legal squabbling and numerous appeals, during which Hussein insulted the court and had himself removed from the legal proceedings on several occasions, what will the death of Saddam Hussein (along with his co-defendants) actually mean for Iraq?
Following the announcement, many Iraqi Shiites were reported to be celebrating in the streets, while there was a protest in Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.
Various news agencies have consistently reported that according to international law, the government in Iraq has the ability to stay the execution.
However, high-level members of the new ruling government in the country have repeatedly said that will not happen and that Hussein would indeed pay with his own life for his “crimes against humanity.”
Locally, many residents said Hussein’s death would be a positive outcome.
“I think it would be good for humanity,” said Bobby Osborne, of Ware Shoals. “He needed to be held accountable for what he did.”
“It’s overdue,” said Kenneth Chappelle, of Ninety Six. “I think that they should have done it a long time ago.” “I’m all for it,” said Natalie Propp, a Greenwood native now living in Indianapolis, Ind. “No tears here. I think they had to do it. If they didn’t (kill him), people would feel they could get away with it.”
“I figured they were going to do it,” said Tom Ellison, of Greenwood.
“Good,” said Josh McReynolds, of Abbeville. “Now we’ll see whether or not they’ll actually carry it out.”
The question that remains is whether Saddam’s execution will have any impact — for good or ill — on the chaotic situation on the ground in Iraq.
The local commentary on this is unified as well: the death of Hussein will make no difference.
“I don’t think it will,” Propp said. “There will be somebody 10 times worse that will come along.”
Her mother, LuAnn Wolf of Cross Hill, agreed.
“There will always be fighting over there — read the Bible,” Wolf said. “I don’t think it’s going to matter over there whether he’s alive or dead. Some other Hitler will come along.”
Instead, her problem with the war has to do with the media’s appetite for murder and mayhem.
“I wish that the press would report more on the good things that are going on over there, like our troops building schools and hospitals over there, instead of focusing on all the negative,” she said. “We need to give our troops some moral support for when they get home. One bad apple (a reference to the atrocities American troops have been charged with overseas) doesn’t make everybody bad.”
Osborne holds no hope that Hussein’s death will make an appreciable difference in the foreseeable future.
“I don’t think it will matter, not in my lifetime,” he said. “It’s been going on for so long over there already. I think the people over there are just born with that violence; that’s just the way they are.”
Chappelle said Hussein’s death could make a difference one way or the other.
“It’s possible,” he said. “The Iraqis could feel more comfortable without Hussein being around, but the people that agreed with him or that were on his side could get rebellious.”
If there is increased violence, McReynolds — a freshman cadet at The Citadel in Charleston — said there will be no shortage of Americans there ready to fight them.
Despite what is seen as a growing quagmire developing in Iraq and the lack of positive press Wolf mentioned, students at the school are chomping at the bit.
Citadel upperclassman are being granted leave-of-absences to fight in Iraq should they so choose, and students at the school are volunteering in numbers to go — as privates.
“They’re ready to go,” McReynolds said of his classmates. “By the time some of the upperclassmen that left get back we’ll be in the same class with them, but there are a lot of them that are volunteering to go.”

John Quincy Adams

SALUDA — John Quincy Adams, 79, of 2144 John Quincy Road, died on Dec. 25, 2006, Newberry County Hospital.
He was born in Saluda County, SC, son of the late William (Doc) and Judith Richardson Adams. He was a member of Peaceful Baptist Church and a retired custodian for Milliken.
He is survived by his wife, Lyla Mae Adams of the home; two sons, Darnell O. Adams, Johnston, SC, and Larry B. Adams, Gainesville, FL; daughter, Juanita P. Adams, Saluda, SC; four brothers, Herbert Adams, Philadelphia, PA, Reverend Raymond Adams and Alfonzo Adams, Jr., both of Saluda, SC, and Leon Adams, Columbia, SC; two sisters, Mary Ethel Adams and Christine Betha, both of Philadelphia, PA; six grandchildren; one great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday at Peaceful Baptist Church, conducted by the Reverend Willie C. Bryant. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 10 a.m.
Butler & Sons Funeral Home is in charge.

William Beshers

William “Willie” Beshers, Jr., 84, of 201 Overland Drive, died Sunday, December 24, 2006 at Hospice House.
Born in Greenwood, a son of William and Flossie Jones Beshers, Sr., he was owner and operator of Beshers Tire & Recapping. He was also a U.S. Marine W.W. II veteran, a Mason, a Shriner, a member of the D.A.V., and attended New Life Pentecostal Holiness Church.
Surviving are a son, Darrell Smith of Donalds; two brothers and sisters-in-law, James Carroll and Ann Beshers of Greenwood and Paul and Margie Beshers of Ocala, FL; and a special long time friend Otis Gray.
Services will be 2 p.m. Thursday at Harley Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Phillip Morris officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be Robbie and Ben Beshers, Joe and Andy Tucker, and Otis Gray.
Honorary escort will be the Shriners.
The body is at Harley Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends Wednesday night from 7 until 9 p.m.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com. Harley Funeral Home & Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

L.J. Jennings

McCORMICK — Mr. L.J. Jennings, age 76, widower of Albert Stevens Jennings, died at Savannah Heights Living Center, McCormick, SC, on Dec. 24, 2006. Born in McCormick, SC, to the late Wallace “Pete” and Fannie Lou Bussey Jennings, he was a member of Zion Chapel AME Church and a retired construction worker. Survivors are four daughters, Luvon Green, Audrey Jennings, Kimberly Jennings and Kendra Jennings, all of Reevesville, SC; a stepson, Lawrence Stevens of Reevesville; four sisters, Mrs. Ammie Williams, McCormick, Mrs. Annie Ruth Coleman of Greenwood, SC, Mrs. Earlie Mae Coleman of Washington, DC, and Mrs. Alice Lyons of Aiken, SC; four brothers, Robert Jennings of Troy, SC, Rufus Jennings and Andrew Jennings of Washington, DC, and James Jennings of Philadelphia, PA. Funeral services are Thursday at noon at the Zion Chapel AMe Church, with the Pastor Rev. George Oliver and Rev. Lawrence Stevens officiating.
Interment is in the church cemetery. The family is at the home of a sister, Ammie Williams, 1267 Highway 378 E., McCormick. Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

Khigh R. Lesley

ATHENS, Ga. — Mr. Khigh R. Lesley, age 42, died at Atlanta Medical Center, Dec. 23, 2006. He was born in Queens, NY, a son of Mrs. Helen Lesley and the late Eugene Lesley. He was a member of Allen AME Church in New York and attended New York public schools. He moved to Athens, Ga., and was employed with the University of Georgia in the Veterinary Department. Survivors are his mother, Mrs. Helen Lesley of the home; sisters, Laura Lesley and Ruth (Milton) Diehl of New York; his grandmother, Mrs. Florence Leverette of Athens, GA. Services are Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Shiloh AME Church in McCormick, SC, with the Pastor Rev. James Louden, III and Rev. Richard Allen Washington, officiating.
Interment is in the church cemetery. The family is at the home of his grandmother at Chestnut Ridge Road in McCormick.
Walker Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Dorothy McDuffie

Dorothy “Dot” McDuffie, 51, of 100 Highlander, Highland Forest Apt. A-6, died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006, at the home of her sister.
The family is at the home of her sister Mrs. Ray (Carrie) Farr, 109 Dorchester St., Pinehurst subdivison.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.

Rubye Shirley

WARE SHOALS — Rubye Elizabeth Baldwin Shirley, 93, widow of Ted H. Shirley, formerly of Parkway Ave., died Monday, Dec. 25, 2006 at Elbert County Memorial Hospital in Elberton, Ga.
Born in Abbeville County, she was a daughter of the late Henry Mason and Allie Jackson Baldwin. She was retired from Pilgrim Curtain Company and was a member of the Ware Shoals First Presbyterian Church.
Surviving are one son, Kenneth D. Shirley, Sr. of Hodges; one daughter, Janet S. Smeltz of Easley; a granddaughter raised in the home, Carol Shirley Burdette of Belton; one brother, Henry Mason Baldwin, Jr. of Littleton, NC; 4 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; and 3 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services and entombment will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens Chapel Mausoleum, with Rev. Wayne Wicker officiating.
The family will receive friends after the service at Greenwood Memorial Gardens. The family will be at their respective homes. Parker-White Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Joseph E. Vereen

NINETY SIX — Joseph E. Vereen, 63, passed away Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006. Graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. today at Saluda Memorial Gardens Cemetery, with Rev. Jerry Burnson officiating.
Mr. Vereen was born in Conway, son of the late Sam Porter and Margaret K. Wagner Vereen. He was a carpenter.
Survivors are his 5 children, sons, Tony Vereen of NC, Taylor Vereen, Logan Vereen, both of FL, daughters, Lynn Callaham, Pam Shaw, both of Saluda; sisters, Marilyn Vereen of Greenville, Virginia Hucks of Conway, Kay Rodgers of Ward, Shirley Lane of Lake Norman, Linda James of Myrtle Beach; brothers, Samuel Vereen of Ninety Six, William “Skeet” Vereen of Chappells, Robert Vereen of AL; 7 grandchildren.
The family will receive friends after the service at the home of his daughter Pam Shaw and husband, Thomas, of Saluda. Milton Shealy Funeral Home of Batesburg-Leesville is assisting the family with arrangements.

Dale Wilson

ROCK HILL — Ernest Dale Wilson, 63, of 3301 Penshurst Road, died Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006, at his home. The family is at the home.
Greene Funeral Home, Downtown Chapel, is in charge.

Fights over water could cause a bigger problem

December 27, 2006

“Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote those lines in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in 1798. They could, however, be applicable to North and South Carolina in 2006. At least they could be said about a dispute over water and water rights between the two states.
There’s no doubt about coming conflicts between states all around the United States over water. It’s such a crucial necessity for everything we do that it wouldn’t be too farfetched, perhaps, to look at the issue as they did in the movies about the Old West.

BACK THEN, WATER RIGHTS meant everything in some situations. Chances are extremely likely it will be that way again, for real, unless level-headed people get together, make plans and prevent the expected problem from leading to “fightin’ words in modern times.
It’s been noted before that some disputes have already occurred between some in Georgia and South Carolina over taking water from the Savannah River. Also, there is a current disagreement between North and South Carolina over the Catawba River. The North Carolina communities of Concord and Kannapolis are involved. They would take huge quantities of water from the Catawba River Basin upstream from South Carolina, use the water, then put it back into the Pee Dee River Basin. How that might affect S. C. communities downstream has stirred interest among local, state, and federal officials.

SOUTH CAROLINA GOV. MARK Sanford, the state Legislature, and Reps. James Clyburn and John Spratt oppose the plan, as do others.
S. C. Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster, in fact, has legally opposed it and now is, rightfully, seeking a joint compact to resolve the issue. He says that without an agreement he’ll be forced to file a lawsuit asking the U. S. Supreme Court to block North Carolina from taking the water.
That’s a reasonable proposal. It could well show a better way for other water disputes that are likely to occur elsewhere to be resolved. At least they aren’t fighting words ..... yet.